Elios

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In Canto XIV of Paradiso Dante addresses Elïòs directly with the exclamation «O Elïòs che sì li addobbi», placed within the reflection on the sacrifice offered. The notes to the passage clarify that the immediate context is that of the holocaust understood as a total offering consumed by fire, according to the medieval etymology from hólos and caustós, and that terms such as essausto and ardor evoke the action proper to the sacrificial flame. Within this framework Elïòs is called upon in relation to the light that clothes and adorns what has been offered, as can be gathered from the connection between v. 96 and the commentary that explains vv. 94-6. The mention thus takes its place in the celestial earthly Paradise of Canto XIV, without further specifications of role provided by the verse-anchors or the available notes.